Unravelling The Dirty Picture: Who was Silk Smitha?

Vidya Balan is allegedly playing Silk Smitha in her upcoming film The Dirty Picture. But who was Silk Smitha? Why was she so popular? What distinguished her from others? We tried to find out the same:

The Elusive Silk Smitha

Though Silk Smitha was repetitive in her roles in south Indian film industry, yet no one complained about it, rather she was making it big on screen. In 1982, Silk Smitha had nine films in her kitty for release. Not only this, further, thirteen films were followed by those preceding nine. Story or no story, it hardly mattered for her fans and followers. It was more than enough for them that their lady was on the screen.

Silk Smitha’s presence on screens, made the audience whistle and hoot for her. At a very young age, she gained much popularity. No wonder, when she was 23 years old, she had already done 30 films. But as an actress, she was searching for more and so, this sensational lady thought of doing some serious films also, in order to strike a balance between her steamy avatar on screen and her forte as an actress. She appeared in a film named Moondaram Pirai, which was later remade in the name of ‘Sadma’ in Hindi.

Gradually, she was tagged as a bankable actress by many. She got a lot of appreciation and her career graph saw only progress. Although she had grabbed many eyeballs, yet she wanted to get into film production. But destiny had decided something else for the lady. Soon she was found dead under some mysterious circumstances at her Chennai apartment. She was just 36 when she died. Her kith and kin later reported that she had been suffering from depression.

Hot Silk Smitha

Queen of many hearts, Silk Smitha, was a discovery of an ace actor director Vinu Chakravarthy. He was the man, who renamed her as Silk Smitha. Born in Eluru of Andhra Pradesh in 1960, she was educated only till fourth standard. But her aspirations were high, hence she moved towards Kodambakkam, starting her film career as an ordinary makeup girl.

Her dusky complexion gained her the repute she always wanted. Her dancing skills were fabulous and she had as many as 450 films in her film career spanning 17 years. Biggies like Kamal Hasan, Shivaji Ganeshan, Chiranjeevi and Ranjinikanth didn’t want their films to be released without her name on the posters. The producers had to wait for at least six months to get the dates of Silk Smitha for dance numbers. She even did a film named ‘Silk, Silk, Silk’.

Perhaps, she forgot one fact of life that who sees boom also sees the doom. She was not anticipating failure in her life. When she was overtaken by the new regime of budding actresses, she thought of getting into production. But here also, she didn’t succeed. When she thought that there was nothing substantial left in her life, she committed suicide.

Famous for her hot moves, she changed her dancing styles to suit the characters she played in her films. In reality, she was a well trained dancer.

Although people always appreciated her moves and looks, but none were concerned about her personal life. Now, when ‘The Dirty Picture’ is slated to release on December 02, everyone is waiting to know the real Silk Smitha.